Hoist for gun mountings and analogous purposes



C. F. BRERETON HOIST FOR GUN MOUNTINGS AND ANALOGOUS PURPOSES Filed July 18, 1947 July 11, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l IIL MI ll (IlIIIIIIL II I (pen/s Patented July 11, 1956 HOIST FOR GUN MOUNTINGS AND ANALOGOUS PURPOSES Christopher Francis Brereton, London, England,

assignor to Vickers-Armstrongs Limited, London, England, a British company Application July 18, 1947, Serial No. 761,919 In Great Britain August 19, 1946 8 Claims.

This invention relates to the transport of loads to elevated positions where it is required to feed in the loads from a supply source remote from the point at which the loads are to be unloaded and in which it is required to be able to change the point of unloading through a wide angle about aconveyor or elevator which. lifts the loads from the supply source. In this connection the invention is particularly useful in the supply of ammunition to ordnance in which ammunition is to be conveyed from the magazine or other storage space of a ship or fortress to a trough or equivalent cartridge or shell receiving means in the gun turret or upon the gun platform, in which ammunition, is loaded to a hoist from one or more fixed positions beneath the gun, the hoist incorporating means to compensate for changes in position of the gun turret or platform due to training of the gun.

In the present practice the means in the hoist for compensating for the gun training is of a complicated and bulky nature and frequently breaks down, particularly when subject to heavy use over a protracted period, or alternatively the ammunition receiving means at the lower end of the hoist changes position with the training gun, and consequently personnel are obliged to carry cartridge cases to. various feeding positions at the lower end of the hoist or to manhandle conveyors to the appropriate feeding positions.

The chief object, of the present invention is to provide conveying or hoist means capable of handling heavy loads in such manner as to enable the unloading or elevated discharge position to be adjusted positionally about the hoist without the necessity of complicated guides and flexible joint or link devices in the elevating means. Another object of the invention is to considerably simplify the present-day hoist means of conveying ammunition from a ma azine to a gun turret or mounting which has a wide range of training adjustment.

According to this invention hoist means for elevating ammunition-r other bulky bodies to a point of discharge or unloading which is adjustable aboutthe hoist is characterised in that a receptacle to receive the load and to carry the load upwardly from the loading. point to the unloading point is guided within a hoist casing operatively connected to power driven .means adapted to impart rotation to it about. a vertical axis whilst the loaded receptacle is. Within the column or well shaft.

In carrying one form of the invention into practice as applied to a gun mounting a normally fixed position is provided at the lower end of the hoist for feeding ammunition into a cage in the hoist, and: means is provided to impart rotation to the hoist contemporaneousy with the elevating of the ammunition so as automatically to bring the cage into a discharge position in alignment with the trough or equivalent ammunition or load receiving means in the gun turret or on the gun platform or its equivalent.

In order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect drawings are appended hereto, showing diagrammatically in perspective an embodiment thereof as applied to an ammunition hoist, and wherein:

Figure 1 shows the hoist set to receive a round of. ammunition from the supply source, e. g. the magazine of a ship, and

Figure 2 shows the round delivered to the trough feeding a gun- Referring to the drawings, the hoist includes a barrel or hollow cylindrical column, hereinafter referred toas the casing l rotatable upon its vertical axis and provided with internal vertical guides 2' along which is mounted for movement of translation a cage 3 adapted to receive the ammunition, such cage being suspended from a cable 4' extending along the axis of the casing and guided, e. g. over sheaves or pulleys to hydraulic fluid pressure driven means, indicated generally by the reference letter A, for raising and lowering the ammunition cage. This unit A is preferably constructed as a hydraulic presses shown, the ram 34" of which slides in a cylinder 34 a-iiixed by a frame 9a to the turret platform 9.

The lower end of the casing l is fixed to an annulus 5 with the periphery of which meshes a gear wheel 32 driven by hydraulic means, indicated generally by the reference letter B, for imparting rotation to the casingin one direction, and the upper end of the hoist carries a toothed annulus 6 seating upon a roller bed 1 the base annulus 8 of which is carried by the gun turret platform 9. The annulus 6 is geared as hereinafter explained to a third hydraulic machine C.

The movement and location of the casing I is controlled by the hydraulic machines B and C, the latter being carried by the gun platform 9 which is adapted to rotate through any angle about the axis of the hoist casing for varying the training of the gun or for like purpose, the other machine B. being carried by a base struc- 3 ture III in relation to which is closely positioned the lower annulus 5.

The machine on the rotatable or upper structure comprises a fixed horizontal frame II having end perpendicular brackets I2 and I3 from which project horizontally two opposed co-axial pairs of pistons or rams in two pairs of cylinders, the two upper co-axial cylinders I4 and I5 having a bore appreciably larger in cross section than the lower co-axial pair of cylinders I6 and H, such cylinders being arranged as two blocks each containing one large diameter and one small diameter of cylinder, the pistons or rams I4, I5, I6 and II of these cylinders being fixed to the aforesaid end brackets I2 and I3, and hydraulic fluid being supplied to the working spaces through bores in the pistons or rams, the arrangement being such that the cylinders float in relation to the pistons or rams. The two blocks of cylinders I4, I6 and I5, II are spaced apart and receive between them a lug I8 depending from a horizontal rack bar I5 which meshes with a pinion forming one gear element of a suitable drive, having a pinion 2| meshing with the toothed annulus 6 fixed to the upper end of the hoist column I. The said horizontal frame I I has an upstanding centre lug 22 against which the opposed ends of the two cylinder blocks I4, I6 and I5, II abut simultaneously and in succession according to the particular stage in the cycle of operation and the direction of training the gun turret.

In addition to the larger diameter pair of cylinders I4, I5 having a greater bore than the other pair of cylinders IE, IT they have a greater bore than a co-axial pair of cylinders 23 and 24 of the power unit B carried by the said base plate II], this co-axial pair of cylinders carried by the base plate comprising the moving elements of the unit B and having a bore larger than the bore of the smaller pair of cylinders I6 and IT on the upper machine C. This pair of cylinders 23 and 24 have opposed ends adapted to abut against the vertical lug 25 of a horizontal guide-away 2S fixed to the base plate and having at its ends upstanding brackets 21, 28 to which are fixed the co-axial rams or pistons 23, 24' to which hydraulic fluid is supplied at the same pressure as that supplied to the other cylinders. In this connection although in the drawings the supply to the machines B and C is shown as apparently coming from the same source, in practice, in order to avoid flexible parts in the pipe lines, the machines would be connected to distinctive sources of supply. The opposed ends of the two lower machine cylinders engage simultaneously and successively according to the stage of the cycle of operating a lug 29 depending from the centre of a horizontal rack bar 30 in mesh with a pinion 3| which is an element of a transmission having the output pinion 32 meshing with the annulus 5 on the lower end of the hoist case.

The cylinders of the lower machine B, and the smaller diameter or lower pair of cylinders I6, ll of the upper machine, are supplied with constant hydraulic pressure via lines 33, whilst the largest diameter cylinders, i. e. the upper pair of cylinders I4, I5 of the upper machine C, are, in common with the cylinder 34 of the hydraulic power unit A, adapted to be supplied with controlled hydraulic fluid pressure through a control valve 35 so that they may be simultaneously connected either to pressure 36 or to exhaust 31 as desired.

The said valve 35 can be manually controlled, e. g. by a lever 35, or controlled under power from a suitable remote control means, and it is preferably of the piston type controlling the supply of hydraulic fluid to the fixed rains and the hydraulic press. In this connection assuming that this control valve connects the cylinder 34 of the hydraulic power unit A and the two largest diameter cylinders I4, I5 of unit C to exhaust, the lower machine B will then determine the angular location of the hoist casing by reason of its pair of cylinders 23, 24, under the influence of constant hydraulic pressure, bearing against the intermediate lug 25 carried b the horizontal guide-way 26 as shown in Figure 1. In this condition owing to the larger diameter cylinders I4, I5 of the upper machine being connected to exhaust, the smallest diameter pair of cylinders I6, ll under the influence of constant pressure causes the inner end of one of the cylinder blocks, (i. e. the blocks I4, It in Figure l) to bear idly against the depending lug I8 and the inner end of the other cylinder block. I5, I! to be positioned against the fixed stop 22, the machine C being unable to move the rack bar I9 by reason of the greater power of the appropriate cylinder of the lower machine B.

Should the base 9 of the gun turret, have been trained in a direction counter to the above with respect to the fixed base structure ID the end cylinder block I4, It will abut against the fixed stop or lug 22 on the bracket II, and the other block I5, I! will abut against the lug I8 depending from the rack bar I9, it being understood that the gun turret base 9 is suspended independently of the casing I upon its own roller bed, e. g. at or near the periphery of the turret, this supporting means for the gun turret being omitted to avoid unnecessary complications in the drawings.

Assuming that the gun turret platform or its equivalent carries a trough 38 adapted to receive the round 38, it will be evident that the angular position of the platform 9 together with the trough 32 and round with respect to the hoist casing I can vary through a wide angle whilst the largest diameter cylinders I4, I6 and the hydraulic cylinder 34 of the unit A are connected to exhaust. Meanwhile, the lower machine B maintains the hoist casing together with the cage in the hoist in correct angular relationship for receiving rounds from a trough 40 fixed to the base II]. In this connection more than one trough 40 may be fixed to the base III to provide more than one loading position, it being understood that the casing I is provided with one or more loading apertures I through which the rounds are fed into the cage 3, the arrangement in such case being that the cage could have more than one round receiving bore or tube, and likewise a corresponding number of troughs 40 and loading apertures I would be provided for each loading position, all of these being parallel with respect to a common radial direction from the axis of the casing I. By this means one or a number of rounds can be loaded from each magazine in which a number of magazines are disposed about the casing I, it being understood that if, e. g. twin or triplet loading troughs 45 are provided at each loading point a corresponding arrangement of troughs 38 would obtain. With such an arrangement the gear trains 20, 2| and 3|, 32 could each include a simple change-phase gear to'take care of the change in range of angle of movement of the casing I, the change-phase gear being operated from a common remote controller:

Upon the control valve 35 being moved from the position which places both of the largest diameter 5 cylinders 14, t5 and thecylinder-f-uof the unit A to exhaust, according tothe direction of "operation of the valve, hydraulicpressure is admitted to the cylinder 34 of the powerunit A and to the pair of largestdiameter cylinders M,

l5, whereupon the ram 34" of the hydraulicpress A is operiaited and carries downwardly with it a pulleyl-l over which is guidedthe cable 4 which is anchored to the frame 9a, the cable also being carried over a pulley supported-at the top of the cylinder 34 and over a furtherpulley 4 3 dis-- posed so that the cable l depends therefrom in co-axial alignment with the axis of the casing I, the lower end of" this cablefibeingattached to the centre of the cage 3. o By this means the cage is B, this resulting in the hoist casing being caused to rotate about its axis until the cage is aligned for delivery of ammunition to the trough on the turret platform 9.

On again nr oving the control valve 35 to the appropriate position, the hoist cage 3 is lowered and the hoist casing simultaneously rotated to the position in which'it, will bring the empty hoist cage into alignment with the loading trough on the base plate.

Although the illustrated arrangement of the cable in relation to the hydraulic press A gives a ratio of 2/1 it is evident that higher ratios may be obtained by increasing the number of sheaves in well known manner.

I claim:

1. A hoist for elevating ammunition or other bulky bodies comprising a load elevating receptacle, vertical guiding means up and down which the receptacle is conveyed, a load receiving member at the upper end of the guiding means to which the loads are fed from said receptacle, driving means to turn said guiding means together with the said receptacle guided thereby about a vertical axis, driving means to translate said load receiving member about said axis relative to the guiding means and means operative during stationary and turning periods of the guiding means to raise and lower the receptacle along said guiding means to bring the receptacle into discharging relationship with the said load receiving member.

2. A hoist for elevating ammunition and other bulky bodies comprising a base and a relatively elevated load receiving structure, a vertical guide structure extending from the base, and havin an upper terminus above the said load receiving structure, a load elevating receptacle guided up and down said guide structure, driving means to rotate said guide structure and the receptacle therein about a vertical axis so that the receptacle does not change its transverse relationship with the guide structure during its translation along the guide structure, driving means to adjust said load receiving structure angularly about said vertical axis, and a power unit carried by said load receiving structure to feed said receptacle along said guiding structure from the base structure to the load receiving structure.

3. A hoist for elevating ammunition and other bulky bodies comprising a base and a relatively elevated load receivingstructure, a vertical guide structure extending from the base, and having an upper terminus above the said load receiving structure, a load elevatin receptacle guided up and down said guide structure, driving means to rotate said guide structure and the receptacle therein about a vertical axis so that the receptacle does not change its transverse relationship with the guide structure during its translation along the guide structure, driving means toadjust said load receiving structure angularly about'said vertical axis, a power unit carried by said load receiving structure to feed said receptacle along said guiding structure from the base structure to the load receiving structure, and a cable depending along said axis and connected-at one end on such axis to the receptacle so as to suspend the receptacle within the guiding structure and connected at its other end to said power unit.

4. A hoist for elevating ammunition or other "bulky bodies comprising a load elevating receptacle, a vertical casing vertical guiding means fixed in said casing and up and down which the receptacle is conveyed, means at the lower end of said casing for loading bodies into said receptacle a load receiving member outside and adjacentto the upper end of the casing to which the loads are fed from said receptacle, driving means to turn said casing about a vertical axis, driving means to translate said load receiving member about and relative to the upper end of said column and means operative during stationary and turning periods of the guiding means to raise and lower the receptacle along said guiding means to bring the receptacle into discharging relationship with the said load receiving member.

5. A hoist for elevating ammunition and other bulky bodies comprising a base and a relatively elevated load receiving structure, a vertical casing extending from the base through said structure so that it has an upper terminus above the said load receiving structure, vertical guides fixed in said casing, a load elevating receptacle slidable up and down said guides and restrained from rotation relative to said guides, driving means at the base of the casing to rotate said casing about a vertical axis, driving means to adjust said load receiving structure angularly about said vertical axis, and a power unit carried b said load receiving structure to feed said receptacle along said. casing from the base structure to the load receiving structure during stationary and turning movements of the casing.

6. A hoist for elevating ammunition and other bulky bodies comprising a base and a relatively elevated load receiving structure, a vertical casing structure extending from the base, vertical guides fixed in said casing, said casing having an upper terminus above the said load receiving structure, a load elevating receptacle guided up and down said guides, driving means carried by said load receiving structure geared to the easing, driving means geared to the lower end of the casing, both said driving means being adapted to rotate said casing and the receptacle therein about a vertical axis so that the receptacle does not change its transverse relationship with the casing during its translation along the guides, means to provide for alternate overdriving of each other of the driving means to effect change in direction of rotation of the casing, driving means to adjust said load receiving structure angularly about said casing, a

power unit carried by said load receiving structure to feed said receptacle along said guides from the base structure to the load receiving structure, and a cable depending along said axis and connected at one end on such axis to the receptacle so as to suspend the receptacle within the casing and connected at its other end to said power unit.

7. A hoist according to claim 6 wherein each of the said driving means comprises two hydraulic fluid pressure driven members operating in opposite directions upon the casing and alternately connected to the source of supply of fluid pressure and the hydraulic fluid pressure driven means for raising and lowering the cage is adapted to be connected to the source of hydraulic fluid pressure simultaneously with the like connection of one of the said driving means adapted to drive the said column.

8. A hoist according to claim 7 wherein one of the said driving means comprises two opposed co-axial pairs of cylinders, two co-axial cylinders having a bore appreciably larger in cross section than the co-axial other pair of cylinders, such cylinders being arranged as two blocks each containing one large diameter and one small diameter cylinder, the pistons or rams of these cylinders being fixed to end brackets, and hydraulic fluid being supplied to the working spaces through the pistons or rams, the arrangement being such that the cylinders float in relation to the pistons or rams, the two blocks of cylinders being spaced apart and receiving between them a lugrprojecting from a horizontal rack bar which meshes with a pinion forming part of a drive to a toothed annulus fixed to the upper end of the hoist column, a normally fixed stop being provided against which the opposed ends of the two cylinder blocks abut simultaneously and in succession according to the particular stage in the cycle of operation, the other of the said driving means comprising a co-axial pair of cylinders having a capacity or power output intermediate the greater and smaller bore cylinders of the aforesaid two blocks and having opposed ends adapted to abut against a lateral projection of a rack bar driving a pinion forming part of a drive to a toothed annulus at the lower end of thecolumn and a fixed stop being provided between such opposed ends to limit the inward movement of the cylinders, the largest pair of cylinders being adapted to be supplied with controlled hydraulic fluid pressure through a control valve and the others being subjected to constant hydraulic fluid pressure.

CHRISTOPHER. FRANCIS BRERETON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 593,021 Hyde Nov. 2, 1897 957,015 Updegraff May 3, 1910 

